The Secret
by ellsbells10
Summary: One-shot about Cate. Very different from my other stories. Complete. Takes place during the pilot episode, right after Cate dropped Lux off at Social Services but before Lux's emancipation hearing. Not about Lux.


**Note: I don't want this to happen and I don't think it's realistic. If it had happened, it would seem over the top, fake and cheesy. Plus, it would've made the show way more complicated. I just got the idea and wanted to play out what would've happened if it were true. It's a one-shot and complete. It's not very good. Personally I prefer writing and reading stories that explore the relationships of the real characters more in realistic situations. It's just different from other stories in its premise.

* * *

**

Cate gripped the steering wheel hard, her knuckles turning white. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.

Who was she kidding? She couldn't possibly regain her composure after what had just happened. Who could?

She didn't even know where to begin.

The day had started out normally enough. She'd had breakfast with Ryan. He 'd cooked. She was hopeless in the kitchen.

Then, they'd hurried to the radio station. They'd argued back and forth good-naturedly on the air. As they'd exchanged insults, Cate had smiled, admiring her engagement ring.

Where had it all gone wrong?

When Ryan brought up high school nicknames, to start with. High school was not Cate's favorite conversation topic. Ryan loved teasing her about high school and trying to get to the bottom of her commitment issues.

That had been the catalyst for Baze, the jerk who had knocked her up in high school and then laughed at her with his friends, denying he'd ever sleep with her, to call in and share her secret with the entire world…and Ryan.

It had been like a train wreck. Cate had tried desperately to get Baze off the air, but Alice wouldn't cut him off because listeners were intrigued. Ryan had encouraged Baze, dying to know more about his secretive fiance.

Cate had stormed out of the radio station to confront Baze. And that's when she'd had the shock of a lifetime. Baze was in the parking lot with their daughter.

The baby Cate had given up for adoption was standing in the parking lot. Her name was Lux. She was now fifteen and wanted to get emancipated.

Cate had instantly felt a connection. She'd been overwhelmed with emotion. She instantly loved the daughter she didn't even know.

She'd driven Lux to Social Services to drop off the paperwork Baze and she had just signed. Lux told her the reason she was never adopted was because she had a hole in her heart and spent three years in and out of surgery.

Cate had instantly felt angry that no one had even told her about Lux's heart. She'd also felt badly that Lux had to go through that and, well, everything else, without anyone.

When she'd tried to talk to Lux and asked if Lux was sure she wanted to get emancipated, Lux had shot back, "I haven't had a mom for fifteen years. No offense, but I don't need one now," and walked away from Cate.

Lux's words had hurt. How could someone Cate didn't even know hurt her so badly? She'd instantly been guilt-ridden.

Now Cate sat in her car in front of her mother's house. She'd driven there on autopilot. She wasn't sure why.

Cate's mother, Laverne, wasn't exactly the person you went to with problems. Laverne couldn't even handle her own problems, much less Cate's.

But, there was no one else Cate could possibly go to. No one else knew.

That's not true, Cate thougth dully, as she remembered that now everyone knew, thanks to Baze. Still, no one knew the whole truth except Laverne.

Cate finally worked up the courage to talk to Laverne. She knocked on the door. She was about to return to her car, almost relieved Laverne wasn't home, when Laverne pulled up to the house, waving at Cate.

Laverne had been at the grocery store. Wordlessy, Cate helped her carry grocery bags in, noting the two boxes containing several bottles of alcohol in the trunk.

"This is a surprise," Laverne said happily.

Cate nodded, unsure where to begin.

"How are you doing?" Laverne asked.

"Fine," Cate lied.

Laverne raised her eyebrows. "I was listening to the radio this morning."

"You heard?" Cate asked, grateful she wouldn't have to start at the beginning.

Laverne nodded. "That must have been hard."

"Uh, the reason that Baze called in and, well…" Cate trailed off, clearly uncomfortable.

Laverne stared at her expectantly.

"Well, my daughter showed up. She needed our signatures for some paperwork," Cate continued uneasily.

"I need to sit down," Laverne said, clearly as shocked as Cate had been.

Cate followed her mom to the kitchen table. "Mom, she was never adopted. She's been in and out of foster homes her whole life. I should have…I don't know, checked."

Laverne snickered. "You couldn't have done anything. You couldn't take care of a kid. You were sixteen!"

Cate ignored the hint of scorn in Laverne's voice instead choosing to take comfort in the fact that her mother was right-she couldn't have taken care of a kid alone at sixteen.

"Hell, you couldn't even take care of a kid now," Laverne added with a laugh.

Cate looked up, surprised and hurt. "What are you saying?"

"Look at yourself," Laverne said as though it was obvious Cate couldn't take care of a kid. "You're still a child. You haven't grown up. You haven't settled down. You're out all the time, at radio events."

Cate was now wishing she hadn't come to her mother. But, since she had, she decided to go ahead and ask the question that had been plaguing her since she'd heard Lux's story. "Do you think I should check? On my other daughter?"

Laverne looked up, clearly surprised. "What on earth for?"

"I don't know, to, uh, make sure she was adopted and is OK," Cate replied.

Laverne and Abby were the only two people who knew that Cate had been pregnant until Baze's little announcement that morning. But, they were still the only two people who knew that Cate had been pregnant with twins.

"No," Laverne said. "There's no reason to dredge up the past. There's nothing you can do about it now."

"Thanks, Mom," Cate said as she left. She didn't know what she was thanking Laverne for. Laverne hadn't done anything except criticize Cate during the course of their conversation. And Cate still felt unsure about what to do.

* * *

Not knowing was driving her crazy. She'd tried to get her mind off things by shopping. Shopping always cheered her up, but today not even handbags could help. Resolved, Cate drove back to the Social Services office she'd dropped Lux off at a few hours before.

"Can I help you?" A frazzled looking older woman asked when Cate entered.

"Yeah, I, uh, gave twins up for adoption sixteen years ago," Cate began awkwardly.

The woman frowned. "If you gave them up, you signed away your legal rights."

"I know. I don't want them back or anything. I just, uh, want to check on them," Cate explained.

The woman's frown deepened. "Check on them?" She asked skeptically.

"It's just that one of them found me today. She needed my signature for some paperwork. She told me she'd never been adopted because she had a hole in her heart. I want to make sure the other one is OK," Cate explained.

The woman nodded. She took Cate's information and pulled up the file in her computer database. "Yes, Lux Cassidy had heart surgery and is now in foster care. She has an emancipation hearing tomorrow at 1:00 pm. And, Sarah did not have any complications and was immediately placed."

Cate breathed in a sigh of relief. "So, she's OK? She's in a good home?"

The woman hesitated. They didn't usually give out information, but she could tell Cate was concerned and Cate had made it clear she did not want the child back. "Yes, Sarah was placed with Olivia and Elliot Barber. Olivia is a teacher and Elliot is a lawyer."

Cate left the office feeling slightly better. She knew at least one of children was OK. And she knew when Lux's hearing was now, so she could try to do more for Lux.

* * *

Cate googled _Elliot Barber_. She couldn't help but be curious.

She opened a new window and pulled up Google Map to get directions for the address that had popped up. She drove to the Barbers' house anxiously.

Once she got there, she sat in her car, unsure what to do. Sarah was healthy and happy, living with a good family. Cate didn't even know if Sarah knew she was adopted. She couldn't just ring the doorbell.

But, somehow, Cate couldn't bring herself to leave without seeing for herself that her other daughter was OK. Not after what Lux had told her. Cate sat parked in her car for what felt like hours.

Eventually, a black Lexus pulled into the Barbers' driveway. Cate watched as a middle aged woman got out of the drivers' seat and a girl who looked to be about fifteen jumped out of the passengers' seat.

Cate held her breath, wondering if the girl was her daughter. Surely it was.

"Sarah, would you get the mail?" Cate heard the woman ask. Cate released her breath. _Sarah_. It was her.

"Sure," Sarah agreed, turning toward the mailbox.

Cate was parked right next to the mailbox. She watched the girl approach, grateful for an up-close look at her daughter. Unlike Lux, Sarah looked like Cate.

Sarah had the same dark mane, although her hair was longer than Cate's. She had warm, tanned skin and dark, shiny eyes. She was short, like Cate, and thin. Cate swore it was like looking at a picture of herself at that age.

Sarah opened the mailbox and rifled through the mail. She tore open a letter and grinned. "Mom! I'm on honor roll again."

Cate smiled. Sarah didn't just look like her. Sarah took after her, too. Cate had always been an honors student.

Seeing Sarah made Cate feel better. Sarah couldn't be happier and her adoptive mom seemed great. This was what Cate had wanted, what Social Services had told her she could expect when she'd given her twins up.

Now Cate just needed to make things right with Lux.


End file.
